Methods and systems for displaying image

ABSTRACT

The method for display may include obtaining an image to be displayed by at least one of the one or more display devices. The image may have a first region, The method may also include acquiring image information to be displayed in a second region that is displayed in the at least one of the one or more display devices. The image information may be related to the image. The method may also include acquiring a display standard associated with the image. The method may also include storing the image to at least one of the one or more storage devices. The method may also include generating a first determination that a display of the second region does not satisfy the display standard when storing the image. The method may also include generating a response based on a result of the first determination.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/212,652, filed on Dec. 6, 2018, which is a Continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2016/106747 filed on Nov. 22, 2016,the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to devices and methods for medical imageprocessing, and more particularly, to devices and methods for displayinginformation of a medical image.

BACKGROUND

During a medical image processing procedure, information for rapiddiagnosis may be added in a medical image. For example, the addedinformation may be displayed in the form of text during a display of themedical image. The medical image may include an imaging object (e.g.,the brain of a patient). When the distance between the imaging objectand the text in the medical image is greater than a predetermined value,the text cannot be stored during an archiving or clipping procedure,which may result in data loss and influence the diagnosis.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a system fordisplay may include one or more display devices, one or more storagemedia, and one or more processors configured to communicate with the oneor more storage media. The one or more storage media may include a setof instructions. When the one or more processors executing the set ofinstructions, the one or more processors may be directed to perform oneor more of the following operations. The one or more processors mayobtain an image to be displayed by at least one of the one or moredisplay devices, the image having a first region. The one or moreprocessors may acquire image information to be displayed in a secondregion that is displayed in the at least one of the one or more displaydevices, the image information being related to the image. The one ormore processors may acquire a display standard associated with theimage. The one or more processors may store the image to at least one ofthe one or more storage devices. The one or more processors may generatea first determination that a display of the second region does notsatisfy the display standard when storing the image. The one or moreprocessors may generate a response based on a result of the firstdetermination.

In some embodiments, the image may include a graphic representation ofan imaging object, and the graphic representation of the imaging objectmay be within the first region.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may acquire an edit tothe image, wherein storing the image to at least one of the one or morestorage devices may include storing the image that has the edit.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may acquire an edit tothe image information.

In some embodiments, the display standard may include that all of thesecond region locates within the first region.

In some embodiments, the image may include a region of interest, and theimage information may include at least one of statistical information ofthe region of interest, comment information of the region of interest,or a graphics representation of the region of interest.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may generate a seconddetermination that the display of the second region satisfies thedisplay standard. The one or more processors may provide the image andthe image information to be an output based on a result of the seconddetermination.

In some embodiments, the response may include outputting a reminder, thereminder including the first determination.

In some embodiments, the reminder may include changing a color of theimage information.

In some embodiments, the response may include processing at least one ofthe image or the image information such that the display of the secondregion satisfies the display standard.

In some embodiments, the response may include providing a modificationsuggestion for the image or the image information, and executing themodification suggestion such that the display of the second regionsatisfies the display standard.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method fordisplay may include one or more of the following operations. One or moreprocessors may obtain an image to be displayed by at least one of theone or more display devices, the image having a first region. The one ormore processors may acquire image information to be displayed in asecond region that is displayed in the at least one of the one or moredisplay devices, the image information being related to the image. Theone or more processors may acquire a display standard associated withthe image. The one or more processors may store the image to at leastone of the one or more storage devices. The one or more processors maygenerate a first determination that a display of the second region doesnot satisfy the display standard when storing the image. The one or moreprocessors may generate a response based on a result of the firstdetermination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings are offered for a thorough understanding of the presentdisclosure, and the drawings are parts of the present disclosure. Theillustrative examples are for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The samecomponent in different figures is signed with the same label.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary image processingsystem according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating hardware and softwarecomponents of an exemplary computing device according to someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary image processingdevice according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of imageprocessing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary processing moduleaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of imageprocessing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 7A and 7B are exemplary image information displayed by an imageprocessing device according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to illustrate the technical solutions related to theembodiments of the present disclosure, brief introduction of thedrawings referred to the description of the embodiments is providedbelow. Obviously, drawings described below are only some examples orembodiments of the present disclosure. Those having ordinary skills inthe art, without further creative efforts, may apply the presentdisclosure to other similar scenarios according to these drawings.Unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, the same referencenumeral in the drawings refers to the same structure and operation.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As usedherein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise,”“comprises,” and/or “comprising,” “include,” “includes,” and/or“including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

Although the present disclosure makes various references to certainmodules in the system according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, any number of different modules may be used and run on aclient terminal and/or a server. The modules are illustrative only, anddifferent aspects of the systems and methods may use different modules.

A flowchart is used in the present disclosure to describe operationsperformed by a system in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. It should be understood that the preceding or followingoperations are not necessarily performed exactly in sequence. Instead,the various steps may be processed in reverse sequence and/orsimultaneously. Moreover, other operations may also be added into theseprocedures, or one or more steps may be removed from these procedures.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary image processingsystem according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Theimage processing system 100 may include an image processing device 110,a database 120, a network 130, and an external device 140.

In some embodiments, the image processing device 110 may process medicalimages (also called “image” in this application). The processing may beautomatically performed by the image processing device 110 or beperformed based on user interaction with the image processing device110. The automatic processing may cause the image attributes and thelocation status of an information window relative to the location of aspecific region (e.g., also referred to herein as a second region) tosatisfy a display standard. In some embodiments, the automaticprocessing may include editing an image and editing image information.

In some embodiments, the image information may include statisticalinformation, comment information, a graphical representation, or thelike, or a combination thereof. As used herein, the graphicalrepresentation is a graphical form of information (e.g., the statisticalinformation or the comment information). The statistical information maybe statistical information of a region of interest in the image. Thestatistical information of the region of interest may be a maximumfeature of the region of interest, a minimum feature of the region ofinterest, the area of the region of interest, the perimeter of theregion of interest, the number of pixels in the region of interest, thevariation or distribution of pixels values of the region of interest, orthe like, or a combination thereof. The statistical information may bein the form of text or graphics, or a combination thereof. For example,the statistical information may be shown in the form of graphicsrepresentation (e.g., histogram, curve chart, or a combination thereof).The maximum and the minimum features of the region of interest may berespectively a maximum value and a minimum value of a pixel parameter.The pixel parameter may include a computed tomography (CT) value, a grayvalue, luminance, or the like, or a combination thereof. The commentinformation may relate to the medical image. In some embodiments, thecomment information may include the analysis of the medical image, suchas focus information shown in the medical image. The focus informationmay be diagnosis and severity of a focus. For example, a user may draw aregion of interest based on the CT image and obtain statisticalinformation of the region of interest. The user may create commentinformation by determining whether there is a focus in the region ofinterest and the severity of the focus. The specific region may be aregion configured to display the image information in the medical image.

In some embodiments, the user interaction may include editing an image,setting a display standard, editing image information, drawing a regionof interest, or determining a specific region. In some embodiments, theimage processing device 110 may include a processor, a power processorunit (PPU), one or more storages, or the like, or a combination thereof.In some embodiments, the image processing device 110 may be an imagingdevice with a function of processing medical images. The imaging devicemay include an X-ray imaging device, a computed tomography (CT) imagingdevice, a positron emission tomography (PET) imaging device, a magneticresonance imaging (MRI) device, an ultrasound imaging device, acardiograph machine, an electroencephalography (EEG) machine, etc. Insome embodiments, the image processing device 110 may be a computer. Insome embodiments, the image processing device 110 may process medicalimages obtained from the database 120. In some embodiments, the imageprocessing device 110 may process medical images obtained from thenetwork 130. In some embodiments, the image processing device 110 mayprocess medical images obtained from the external device 140.

In some embodiments, the database 120 may be a device with storagefunction. The database 120 may store data (e.g., processed imagesprocessed by the image processing device 110) collected by the imageprocessing device 110 and data output from the external device 140(e.g., medical images output from the external device 140 to the imageprocessing device 110). The database 120 may be local or remote. Thedatabase 120 may include a hierarchical database, a network database, arelational database, or the like, or a combination thereof. The database120 may digitize information and store the digitized information in anelectric storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storagedevice, etc. The database 120 may store various information, such asprocedures, data, etc. The database 120 may be a device that storesinformation using electric energy, such as a memorizer, a random accessmemory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or a combinationthereof. The RAM may include a dekatron, a selectron, a delay linememory, a Williams tube, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a staticrandom access memory (SRAM), a thyristor random access memory (T-RAM), azero capacitor random access memory (Z-RAM), or the like, or acombination thereof. The ROM may include a read-only memory bubblememory, a magnetic button line memory, a memory thin film, a magneticplate line memory, a core memory, a magnetic drum memory, a CD-ROMdrive, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, an early nonvolatile memory (theNVRAM), a phase change memory, a magnetoresistive random access memorymodules, a ferroelectric random access memory, a nonvolatile SRAM, aflash memory, a type of electronic erasing rewritable read-only memory,an erasable programmable read-only memory, a programmable read-onlymemory, a mask ROM, a floating connecting doors random access memory, ananometer random access memory, a racetrack memory, a variable resistivememory, a programmable metallization cell, or the like, or a combinationthereof. The database 120 may be a device that stores information usingmagnetic energy, such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, amagnetic core memory, a bubble memory, a U disk, a flash memory, or thelike, or a combination thereof. The database 120 may be a device thatstores information using optics energy, such as a CD, a DVD, or thelike, or a combination thereof. The database 120 may be a device thatstores information using magnetic-optics energy, such as amagneto-optical disk. The database 120 may store information in, forexample, a random storage mode, a serial access storage mode, aread-only storage mode, or the like, or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the database 120 may be a non-permanent memory, a permanentmemory, or a combination thereof. It should be noted that the abovedescription of the database is provided for the purpose of illustration,and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

The network 130 may be a single network or a combination of differentnetworks. For example, the network 130 may be a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a public network, a private network, aproprietary network, a public switched telephone network (PSTN),Internet, a virtual network, a metropolitan area network (MAN), atelephone network, or a combination thereof. The network 130 may includemultiple network access points (NAP), e.g., wired access points,wireless access points, base stations, Internet exchange points, etc.Through these access points, the data source may be accessed via thenetwork 130 and information may be delivered via the network 130. Insome embodiments, the network 130 may include a wireless network(Bluetooth™ link, Wi-Fi™ link, WiMax™ link, etc.), a mobile network link(e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, etc.), or other data access way, for example, avirtual private network, (VPN), a shared network, a near fieldcommunication, (NFC), a ZigBee link. etc. In some embodiments, thenetwork 130 may be configured to communicate with the image processingsystem 100 and to receive information from the image processing system100 or devices outside the image processing system 100, and to deliverinformation to the image processing system 100 or devices outside theimage processing system 100. In some embodiments, the connection to thenetwork 130 by the image processing device 110, the database 120, andthe external device 140 may be wired, wireless, or a combinationthereof.

In some embodiments, the external device 140 may transmit data to theimage processing device 110 and/or receive data from the imageprocessing device 110. In some embodiments, the external device 140 maytransmit data to the database 120 and/or receive data from the database120. In some embodiments, the data transmitted or received by theexternal device 140 may be medical images. In some embodiments, theexternal device 140 may include an input device, an output device, orthe like, or a combination thereof. The input device may include acharacter input device (e.g., a keyboard), an optical reading device(e.g., an optical mark reader or an optical character reader), agraphics input device (e.g., a mouse, a joystick, or a light pen), animage input device (e.g., a camera, a scanner, a fax device, etc.), ananalog input device (e.g., an analog-digital conversion in languagerecognition system), or the like, or a combination thereof. The outputdevice may include a display device, a printer, a plotter, an imageoutput device, a speech output device, a magnetic recording device, orthe like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the externaldevice 140 may include an input device and an output device such as adesktop computer, a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet PC, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), etc.

It should be noted that the above description of the image processingsystem 100 is provided for the purpose of illustration, and not intendedto limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons havingordinary skills in the art, modules may be combined in various ways, orconnected with other modules as sub-systems. Various variations andmodifications may be conducted under the teaching of the presentdisclosure. However, those variations and modifications may not departfrom the spirit and scope of this disclosure. For example, the database120 may be a cloud computing platform with data storage function, e.g.,public cloud, private cloud, community cloud and hybrid cloud. All suchmodifications are within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating hardware and softwarecomponents of an exemplary computing device according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. The computing device 200 may beconfigured to perform the specific device and method described in thepresent disclosure. The specific device described in the presentdisclosure shows a hardware platform with a display module usingfunctional block diagram (FBD). In some embodiments, the computingdevice 200 may perform as one or more modules or units in the imageprocessing device 110 described in the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the image processing device 110 may be implemented by thecomputing device 200 by hardware, software, firmware or any combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the computing device 200 may be a computerin common use or a computer for specific use.

As shown in FIG. 2, the computing device 200 may include an internalcommunication bus 201, a processor 202, a read-only memory (ROM) 203, arandom access memory (RAM) 204, a communication port 205, aninput/output (I/O) 206, a hard disk 207, and a user interface 208. Theinternal communication bus 201 may establish communication amongcomponents in the computing device 200. The processor 202 may perform adetermination and generate a reminder. In some embodiments, theprocessor 202 may include multiple processors. The communication port205 may establish communication between the computing device 200 andcomponents (e.g., the external device 140 and the database 120) in theimage processing system 100. In some embodiments, the computing device200 may transmit information/data to and/or receive information/datafrom the communication port 205 through the network 130. The I/O 206 maysupport the I/O data stream between the computing device 200 andcomponents (e.g., the external device 140 and the database 120) in theimage processing system 100. The user interface 208 may exchangeinformation/data between the computing device 200 and users. Thecomputing device 200 may also include different kinds of program storageunits and data storage units, e.g., the hard disk 207, the read-onlymemory (ROM) 203, the random access memory (RAM) 204. The programstorage units may store data files for computer processing and/orcommunication, and executable program instructions by the processor 202.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary image processingdevice according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Theimage processing device 110 may include an input/output (I/O) module310, a display module 320, a processing module 330, and a storage module340.

The I/O module 310 may be configured to input and/or output data. Thedata may be a medical image, a display standard of the medical image,user interaction, or the like, or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the medical image may include or not include imageinformation. In some embodiments, the medical image may include a regionof interest (ROI). In some embodiments, the medical image may be amedical image that is processed or not processed. In some embodiments,the medical image may be an X-ray image, a computed tomography (CT)image, a positron emission tomography (PET) image, a magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI) image, an ultrasound image, a cardiograph image, anelectroencephalography (EEG) image, or the like, or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the medical image may be a two-dimensional(2D) image or a three-dimensional (3D) image. The type of the medicalimage may include Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Tagged ImageFile Format (TIFF), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Kodak Flash PiX(FPX), Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM), etc. Insome embodiments, the display standard may be set by a user or the imageprocessing device 110. In some embodiments, the display standard mayrelate to an attribute of the medical image. The image attribute mayinclude a pixel, a color, a depth, a resolution, a hue, saturation,brightness, contrast, or the like, or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the display standard may relate to the location status ofthe information window relative to the location of the specific region.In some embodiments, the location status of the information windowrelative to the location of the specific region may include a portion ofthe image information being located outside the specific region, or allof the image information being located within the specific region. Insome embodiments, the user interaction may include editing an image,setting a display standard, editing image information, drawing a regionof interest, determining a specific region, or the like, or acombination thereof. In some embodiments, the editing of (or the editto) the image may include performing an operation to a portion of theimage or the whole image, such as rotating, zooming, cutting, modifyingan attribute, or the like, or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the editing of (or the edit to) the image information mayinclude creating image information and/or modifying image information.In some embodiments, the image information may include statisticalinformation, comment information, a graphical representation, or thelike, or a combination thereof. As used herein, the graphicalrepresentation may be a graphical form of information (e.g., thestatistical information or the comment information). The statisticalinformation may be statistical information of a region of interest inthe image. The statistical information of the region of interest may bea maximum feature of the region of interest, a minimum feature of theregion of interest, the area of the region of interest, the perimeter ofthe region of interest, the number of pixels in the region of interest,the variation or distribution of pixels values of the region ofinterest, or the like, or a combination thereof. The statisticalinformation may be represented in the form of text or graphics, or acombination thereof. For example, the statistical information may beshown in the form of graphics representation (e.g., histogram, curvechart, or a combination thereof). The maximum and the minimum featuresof the region of interest may be respectively a maximum value and aminimum value of a pixel parameter. The pixel parameter may include acomputed tomography (CT) value, a gray value, luminance, or the like, ora combination thereof. The comment information may relate to the medicalimage. In some embodiments, the comment information may be analysis andunderstanding of the medical image, such as focus information shown inthe medical image. The focus information may be diagnosis and severityof a focus. For example, a user may draw a region of interest based onthe CT image and obtain statistical information of the region ofinterest. The user may create comment information by determining whetherthere is a focus in the region of interest and the severity of thefocus. The specific region may be configured to display the imageinformation.

In some embodiments, the I/O module 310 may receive data from thedatabase 120, the storage module 340, or the external device 140. Insome embodiments, the I/O module 310 may output the received data toother components or parts in the image processing device 110. In someembodiments, the data received by the I/O module 310 may be stored inthe database 120 or the storage module 340, or processed by theprocessing module 330. In some embodiments, the I/O module 310 maytransmit/receive data through the I/O 206 in the computing device 200.

The display module 320 may display data in the image processing device110. In some embodiments, the display module 320 may display datainput/output by the I/O module 310. In some embodiments, the displaymodule 320 may display data stored in the storage module 340. The datamay be a medical image. For example, the medical image may be a medicalimage processed by the processing module 330, or a medical image that isnot processed by the processing module 330. The medical image mayinclude a graphic representation of an imaging object (e.g., a graphicrepresentation of the brain of a patient), image information, a regionof interest, a specific region, or the like, or a combination thereof.In some embodiments, the graphic representation of the imaging objectmay be associated with an object contour; the region of interest may beassociated with a contour of the region of interest; and the specificregion may be associated with a specific region contour. The contour maybe a shape that encloses the graphic representation of the imagingobject, the region of interest, or the specific region, and separatesthe graphic representation of the imaging object, the region ofinterest, or the specific region from the surrounding or the background.The shape may be regular or irregular. The contour may be closed oropen. A region within the object contour in the medical image may bereferred to as an image region (e.g., also referred to as first region).The graphic representation of the imaging object may locate in the imageregion. The specific region may be configured to display the imageinformation. In some embodiments, all of the specific region may locatein the image region, or a portion of the specific region may locate inthe image region. In some embodiments, the specific region may be theimage region, a region defined by a user, or a region determined basedon an image attribute or a storage mode. In some embodiments, thespecific region may be determined by the processing module 330. Theimage attribute may include a pixel, a color, a depth, a resolution, ahue, saturation, brightness, contrast, or the like, or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, all data of the medical image may bestored in a storage device (e.g., the database 120, the hard disk 207,the ROM 203, the RAM 204). In some embodiments, partial data (e.g., thegraphic representation of the imaging object and the image information)of the medical image may be stored in a storage device (e.g., thedatabase 120, the hard disk 207, the ROM 203, the RAM 204). In someembodiments, the display module 320 may display one or more toolbaricons for image processing. In some embodiments, a toolbar icon forimage processing may relate to editing image information, drawing aregion of interest, editing an image, storing an image, setting adisplay standard, determining a specific region, or the like, or acombination thereof. For example, the display module 320 may display anicon for saving the image in a storage device, an icon for imageclipping, an icon for creating a text window, etc. In some embodiments,the display module 320 may generate a response to the result of theimage processing performed by a user or the processing module 330, andshow different displays based on the response. In some embodiments, thedisplay module 320 may display data through the user interface 208 inthe computing device 200.

The processing module 330 may process data. The data to be processed maybe a medical image. In some embodiments, the data may be an image regionof the medical image, a region of interest of the medical image, animage attribute of the medical image, image information of the medicalimage, etc. In some embodiments, the processing module 330 may generatean image coordinate system and a window coordinate system. In someembodiments, the processing module 330 may determine the coordinateinformation of a specific region and the coordinate information of theimage information in the image coordinate system. The coordinateinformation of the image information may be the coordinate informationof an information window. The information window may be a windowenclosing all of the image information. In some embodiments, theinformation window may be the smallest window enclosing all of the imageinformation. The shape of the information window may be a rectangle, asquare, a circle, an oval, an irregular shape, or the like, or acombination thereof. In some embodiments, the processing module 330 mayobtain the coordinate information of a vertex (e.g., the top leftcorner) of the information window in the window coordinate system. Theprocessing module 330 may also obtain or determine the length and thewidth of the information window.

The processing module 330 may obtain the coordinate information of theinformation window in the window coordinate system based on thecoordinate information of a vertex in the window coordinate system, thelength of the information window, and the width of the informationwindow. In some embodiments, the processing module 330 may transform thecoordinate information of the information window in the windowcoordinate system to the coordinate information of the informationwindow in the image coordinate system.

In some embodiments, the processing module 330 may obtain statisticalinformation of the region of interest. The statistical information maybe a maximum feature of the region of interest, a minimum feature of theregion of interest, the area of the region of interest, or the like, ora combination thereof. The maximum and the minimum feature of the regionof interest may be respectively the maximum value and a minimum value ofa pixel parameter, which may include a CT value, a gray value,luminance, or the like, or a combination thereof. The specific regionmay be determined by the processing module 330 based on the imageattribute(s). In some embodiments, the processing module 330 maydetermine whether the processed image satisfies a display standard. Insome embodiments, the display standard may relate to an image attribute.The image attribute may include a pixel, a color, a depth, a resolution,a hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, or the like, or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the display standard may relate to thelocation status of the information window relative to the location ofthe specific region. In some embodiments, the determination as towhether the processed image satisfies the display standard may be madebefore the processed image is stored or saved (e.g., during an imagearchiving or clipping process). The processing of the image may beperformed by the processing module 330 or according to one or moreinstructions of a user. For example, the processing module 330 maydetermine the location status of the information window relative to thelocation of the specific region. In some embodiments, the processingmodule 330 may process the medical image based on the location status ofthe information window relative to the location of the specific region.In some embodiments, the processing module 330 may process data throughthe processor 202 in the computing device 200. Detailed descriptions ofthe processing module 330 may be found elsewhere in the presentdisclosure in connection with FIG. 5.

The storage module 340 may be configured to store data. The data may bereceived through the I/O module 310. In some embodiments, the receiveddata may be a medical image, a display standard, image information, orthe like, or a combination thereof. The data may be intermediate datagenerated when the processing module 330 performs data processing. Insome embodiments, the intermediate data may be coordinate information ofthe medical image, coordinate information of the specific region, andcoordinate information of the image information. The data may be aprocessed medical image processed by a user. The data may be a processedmedical image processed by the processing module 330. In someembodiments, the processing module 330 may determine whether theprocessed image satisfies the display standard when data is stored. Insome embodiments, the storage module 340 may store data through the harddisk 207, the read-only memory (ROM) 203, the random access memory (RAM)204, or the like, or a combination thereof.

It should be noted that the above description of the image processingdevice 110 is provided for the purpose of illustration, and not intendedto limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons havingordinary skills in the art, modules may be combined in various ways, orconnected with other modules as sub-systems. For example, in someembodiments, the processing module 330 and the storage module 340 may betwo separate modules or a module with a processing function and astorage function. As another example, the storage module 340 may beomitted, and the image processing device 110 may store data through thedatabase 120 and/or the external device 140. All such modifications arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for imageprocessing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Insome embodiments, one or more steps or operations of the process forimage processing may be performed by the image processing device 110.

In 410, a medical image (also called “image” in this application) may beprovided/obtained for display. The image may have certain imagecharacteristics, which may include an image attribute and/or thelocation status of the information window relative to the location ofthe specific region. The image attribute may include a pixel, a color, adepth, a resolution, a hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, or thelike, or a combination thereof. The image may include an image region.In some embodiments, the image may include or not include imageinformation on it. The image may include or not include a region ofinterest. The image may include or not include a specific region.

In 420, an image processing operation to be performed on the image maybe obtained. The image processing operation may be based on userinteraction and/or automatic processing of a device. The userinteraction may include editing the image, setting a display standard,editing image information, drawing a region of interest, or determininga specific region, etc. The editing of the image may include performingan operation to a portion of the image or the whole image, such asrotating, zooming, cutting, modifying an attribute, or the like, or acombination thereof. The editing of image information may includecreating new image information and/or modifying existing imageinformation in the image. Automatic processing by a device may includeautomatic editing of the image and editing image information. Automaticediting of the image may include automatically performing an operationto a portion of the image or the whole image, such as rotating, zooming,cutting, modifying an attribute, or the like, or a combination thereof.

In 430, a processed image may be generated based on the image processingoperation to the image. The processed image may be displayed. Theprocessed image may include some image characteristics. The imagecharacteristics of the processed image may be the same as or differentfrom the image characteristics of the image provided for displaydescribed in 410. In some embodiments, the processed image may includeor not include image information on it. In some embodiments, theprocessed image may include or not include a region of interest. In someembodiments, the processed image may include or not include a specificregion.

It should be noted that 420 may be performed before or simultaneouslywith 430. Operation 420 being performed simultaneously with 430 meansthat there are multiple image processing operations in 420, and 430 maydisplay the processed image(s) in each image processing operation inreal time.

In 440, a display operation may be performed based on the processedimage. In some embodiments, the display operation may be performed basedon a determination as to whether the processed image satisfies thedisplay standard. The display operation may include outputting theprocessed image or generating a response to the determination. Detaileddescriptions of the process for performing the display operation basedon the processed image may be found elsewhere in the present disclosurein connection with FIG. 6.

It should be noted that the above description of the process for imageprocessing is provided for the purpose of illustration, and not intendedto limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons havingordinary skills in the art may change the image processing flowchart byadding or deleting one or more operations under the teaching of thepresent disclosure. However, those variations and modifications may notdepart from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. For example, 420and/or 430 may be omitted, and the display operation may be performedbased on the displayed image. All such modifications are within theprotection scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary processing moduleaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The processingmodule 330 may include a determination unit 510 and an execution unit520. In some embodiments, the determination unit 510 and the executionunit 520 may be implemented on the processor 202 in the computing device200.

The determination unit 510 may determine whether an image to bedisplayed satisfies a display standard. In some embodiments, thedetermination as to whether an image satisfies a display standard may bemade before the image is stored (e.g., during an image archiving orclipping process). In some embodiments, the display standard may be setby a user or the image processing device 110. In some embodiments, theuser may set the display standard before an image processing operationis performed. In some embodiments, the user may set the display standardwhen or after an image processing operation is performed. The displaystandard may relate to an image attribute. Alternatively oradditionally, the display standard may relate to the location status ofan information window relative to the location of a specific region.

The image attribute relating to the display standard may include apixel, a color, a depth, a resolution, a hue, saturation, brightness,contrast, or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments,the image may be an image received through the I/O module 310 or aprocessed image. The image processing operation may be based on userinteraction and/or automatic processing of a device. The userinteraction may include editing an image, setting a display standard,editing image information, drawing a region of interest, or determininga specific region, etc. The determination unit 510 may determine whetherthe image attribute satisfies the display standard. For example, thedetermination unit 510 may compare the image attribute with the displaystandard and determine whether the image attribute satisfies the displaystandard based on the comparison result.

Alternatively or additionally, the determination unit 510 may determinewhether the location status of the information window relative to thelocation of the specific region satisfies the display standard. In someembodiments, the determination unit 510 may compare the coordinateinformation of the information window (also referred to herein as thecoordinate information of the image information) with the coordinateinformation of the specific region in the image coordinate system. Thedetermination unit 510 may determine whether the location status of theinformation window relative to the location of the specific regionsatisfies the display standard based on the comparison result. In someembodiments, the determination unit 510 may compare the text relating tothe image in a display region of the image information and the textrelating to the image in the specific region. The determination unit 510may determine whether the location status of the information windowrelative to the location of the specific region satisfies the displaystandard based on the comparison result. For example, the determinationunit 510 may compare a gray value in the display region of the imageinformation (or in the information window) and a gray value in thespecific region, and determine whether the difference between the grayvalue of the display region of the image information and the gray valueof the specific region is lower than a predetermined threshold. Merelyby way of example, all of the information window may be located in thespecific region, and the area of the information window equals to thearea of the specific region; or a portion of the information window maybe located outside the specific region.

In some embodiments, the determination unit 510 may obtain statisticalinformation of the region of interest. The statistical information ofthe region of interest may include a maximum feature of the region ofinterest, a minimum feature of the region of interest, the area of theregion of interest, the perimeter of the region of interest, the numberof pixels in the region of interest, the variation or distribution ofpixels values of the region of interest, or the like, or a combinationthereof. The statistical information may be in the form of character orgraphics, or a combination thereof. For example, the statisticalinformation may be shown in the form of graphics representation (e.g.,histogram, curve chart, or a combination thereof). The maximum and theminimum feature of the region of interest may be respectively a maximumvalue and a minimum value of a pixel parameter. The pixel parameter mayinclude a CT value, a gray value, luminance, or the like, or acombination thereof. In some embodiments, the determination unit 510 maydetermine the specific region. The specific region may be configured todisplay the image information. In some embodiments, the determinationunit 510 may determine the specific region based on the image attribute,the image information characteristics, the image region, the region ofinterest, or the like, or a combination thereof. The image informationcharacter may include a font size, a color, a typeface, or the like, ora combination thereof. In some embodiments, the determination unit 510may determine a region with a light color or high brightness (e.g., ablank region in the image region) as the specific region. In someembodiments, the determination unit 510 may select a region that is notincluded in the region of interest in the image region as the specificregion.

A display operation may be performed by the execution unit 520. In someembodiments, the display operation may be related to the determinationof the determination unit 510. The determination of the determinationunit 510 may include whether the image attribute satisfies the displaystandard, and/or the location status of the information window relativeto the location of the specific region satisfies the display standard.The display operation may include outputting an image. In someembodiments, the display operation may include generating a response inresponse to a determination that the image attribute does not satisfythe display standard, and/or a determination that the location status ofthe information window relative to the location of the specific regiondoes not satisfy the display standard. The response may includeoutputting a reminder, processing an image automatically, providingmodification suggestion of an image, or the like, or a combinationthereof. The reminder may be configured to remind a user that the imageattribute and/or the location status of the information window relativeto the location of the specific region does not satisfy the displaystandard. In some embodiments, the reminder may include changing a colorof the image information, displaying a pop-up window, giving an alarm,or the like, or a combination thereof. The automatic processing maycause the image attribute and the location status of the informationwindow relative to the location of the specific region to satisfy thedisplay standard. The automatic processing may include editing the imageand/or editing image information. In some embodiments, editing the imagemay include performing some operations to a portion of the image or thewhole image, such as rotating, zooming, cutting, modifying an attribute,or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, editingimage information may include creating image information and/ormodifying image information on the image. The modification may includeadding the text of the image information, deleting the text (or aportion thereof) of the image information, changing text characteristicsof the image information, or the like, or a combination thereof. Theimage information character may include a font size, a color, atypeface, the number of words per line, the number of lines, or thelike, or a combination thereof. The modification suggestion may berelated to at least one of an image attribute, an image location, alocation of the information window, text characteristics of the imageinformation, etc. In some embodiments, the modification suggestion mayinclude moving the information window, reminding a modified location ofthe information window, changing the word size of the text in the imageinformation, changing the display standard, or the like, or acombination thereof.

It should be noted that the above descriptions of the processing module330 are provided for the purpose of illustration, and not intended tolimit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinaryskills in the art may change the processing module by adding or deletingone or more units under the teaching of the present disclosure. However,those variations and modifications may not depart from the spirit andscope of this disclosure. For example, in some embodiments, theprocessing module 330 may include a storage unit. All such modificationsare within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for imageprocessing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Insome embodiments, the process for image processing may be performed bythe processing module 330. Operation 440 of the process 400 may beimplemented based on the process 600.

In 610, the image data related to a processed image may be obtained. Theprocessed image may be obtained by processing a medical image based onan image processing operation. The image processing operation may bebased on user interaction and/or automatic processing of a device. Insome embodiments, the image data may include an image characteristics,an image size, or an image location. The image characteristics mayinclude an image attribute and/or the location status of an informationwindow relative to the location of a specific region. The imageattribute may include a pixel, a color, a depth, a resolution, a hue,saturation, brightness, contrast, or the like, or a combination thereof.

In 620, a determination as to whether the processed image satisfies adisplay standard. In some embodiments, the determination as to whetherthe processed image satisfies a display standard may be made before theprocessed image is stored (e.g., during an image archiving or clippingprocess). The processed image may include some image characteristics.The image characteristics may be the same as or different from the imagecharacteristics in 610. In some embodiments, the display standard may berelated to an image attribute. The image attribute may include a pixel,a color, a depth, a resolution, a hue, saturation, brightness, contrast,or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the imageattribute and the display standard may be compared to determine whetherthe processed image satisfies the display standard. In some embodiments,a determination that the processed image satisfies the display standardmay be made in response to a determination that the image attributesatisfies the display standard or a determination that the differencebetween the image attribute and the display standard is within athreshold. In some embodiments, the display standard may be related tothe location status of the information window relative to the locationof the specific region. In some embodiments, the location status of theinformation window relative to the location of the specific region maybe compared to determine whether the processed image satisfies thedisplay standard. In some embodiments, the specific region may be theimage region. When the entire information window is located in the imageregion, a determination that the processed image satisfies the displaystandard may be made. In some embodiments, the location status of theinformation window relative to the location of the specific region maybe obtained by determining the coordinate information of the informationwindow and the coordinate information of the specific region. Forexample, in 620, an image coordinate system may be generated. The imagecoordinate system may be a rectangular coordinate system with the originbeing the center of the image. The coordinate information of thespecific region and the coordinate information of the image informationin the image coordinate system may be obtained. The coordinateinformation of the image information may be obtained based on thelocation and the area of the information window, or the imageinformation. The location status of the information window relative tothe location of the specific region may be obtained by comparing thecoordinate information of the image information and the coordinateinformation the specific region.

Operation 630 may be performed in response to a determination that theprocessed image satisfies the display standard in 620. In 630, theprocessed image may be output. In some embodiments, the processed imagemay be stored in the storage module 340, the database 120, the externaldevice 140, or the like, or a combination thereof. Operation 640 may beperformed in response to a determination that the processed image doesnot satisfy the display standard in 620.

In 640, a response may be generated. The response may include outputtinga message, processing the processed image automatically, providingmodification suggestion of the processed image, or the like, or acombination thereof. The message may be configured to remind a user thatthe image attribute, and/or the location status of the informationwindow relative to the location of the specific region does not satisfythe display standard. In some embodiments, the message may includechanging a color of the image information, displaying a pop-up window,generating an alarm, or the like, or a combination thereof. Theautomatic processing may make the image attribute, and the locationstatus of the information window relative to the location of thespecific region satisfy the display standard. The automatic processingmay include editing the processed image and editing image information.In some embodiments, the editing of (or the edit to) the processed imagemay include performing some operations to a portion of the processedimage or the whole processed image, such as rotating, zooming, cutting,modifying an attribute, or the like, or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the editing of (or the edit to) the image information mayinclude creating image information and/or modifying image information.The modification may include adding the text of the image information,deleting a text of the image information, changing text characteristicsof the image information, or the like, or a combination thereof. Themodification suggestion may be related to at least one of an imageattribute, an image location, a location of the information window, textcharacteristics of the image information, etc. The user may furtherenter instructions to cause the processed image to be further processedbased on the modification suggestion. In some embodiments, themodification suggestion may include moving the information window,reminding a modified location of the information window, changing theword size of the text in the image information, changing the displaystandard, or the like, or a combination thereof.

It should be noted that the above descriptions are provided for thepurpose of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of thepresent disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art maychange the processing flowchart by adding, deleting or repeating one ormore steps or operations under the teaching of the present disclosure.However, those variations and modifications may not depart from thespirit and scope of this disclosure. For example, after the response ismade in 640, the process 600 may obtain an automatically processed imageor a further processed image by a user to further determine whether theautomatically processed image or the further processed image by the usersatisfies the display standard. All such modifications are within theprotection scope of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are exemplary image information displayed by an imageprocessing device according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 7A, image information may be located in animage region. The image information may be related to statisticalinformation of a region of interest in the image. The color of the textin the image information may be referred to as a first color (e.g.,green). As shown in FIG. 7B, a portion of the image information maylocate outside the image region. The image information may be related tothe statistical information of the region of interest. The color of thetext in the image information may be referred to as a second color(e.g., red). The first color and the second color may be different. Theuser may be reminded through the color of the text that indicateswhether all of the image information locates in the image region.

Having thus described the basic concepts, it may be rather apparent tothose skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that theforegoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way ofexample only and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, andmodifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art,though not expressly stated herein. These alterations, improvements, andmodifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure and arewithin the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of thisdisclosure.

Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments ofthe present disclosure. For example, the terms “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature,structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or morereferences to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternativeembodiment” in various portions of this specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures or characteristics may be combined assuitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects ofthe present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any ofa number of patentable classes or context including any new and usefulprocess, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new anduseful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the presentdisclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or combiningsoftware and hardware implementation that may all generally be referredto herein as a “unit,” “module,” or “system,” Furthermore, aspects ofthe present disclosure may take the form of a computer program productembodied in one or more computer-readable media having computer readableprogram code embodied thereon.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including electromagnetic, optical, or thelike, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signalmedium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computerreadable storage medium and that may communicate, propagate, ortransport a program for use by or in connection with an instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on acomputer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriatemedium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, or thelike, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent disclosure may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object-oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C #, VB.NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages,such as the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl,COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python,Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code mayexecute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer,as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer andpartly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer orserver. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected tothe user's computer through any type of network, including a local areanetwork (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may bemade to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using anInternet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment oroffered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).

Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, orthe use of numbers, letters, or other designations, therefore, is notintended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order exceptas may be specified in the claims. Although the above disclosurediscusses various examples what is currently considered to be a varietyof useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood thatsuch detail is solely for that purpose and that the appended claims arenot limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, areintended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that arewithin the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. For example,although the implementation of various components described above may beembodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as asoftware-only solution, e.g., an installation on an existing server ormobile device.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description ofembodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimesgrouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereoffor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in theunderstanding of one or more of the various embodiments. This method ofdisclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intentionthat the claimed subject matter requires more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, claimed subject matter may liein less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for displaying an image implemented on acomputing device having one or more display devices, one or moreprocessors, and one or more storage devices, the method comprising:obtaining an image to be displayed by at e s one of the one or moredisplay devices, the image including a first region; generating aprocessed image by performing an image processing operation on theimage, the processed image including a second region; determiningwhether the processed image satisfies a display standard, wherein thedisplay standard relates to a location status of the second regionrelative to a location of the first region; and in response todetermining that the processed image does not satisfy the displaystandard, generating a response.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theimage includes a graphic representation of an imaging object, thegraphic representation of the imaging object being within the firstregion.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the image includes a region ofinterest (ROI), and the processed image includes reference informationassociated with the ROI, the reference information associated with theROI being within the second region.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe reference information associated with the ROI includes at least oneof statistical information of the ROI, comment information of the ROI,or a graphics representation of the ROI.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the image processing operation includes at least one ofrotating, zooming, cutting, or modifying at least a portion of theimage.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the display standard includesthat all of the second region locates within the first region.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the response includes outputting a reminder,the reminder including changing a color of the second region.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the response includes automaticallyprocessing at least one of the first region or the second region suchthat the processed image satisfies the display standard.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the response includes: providing a modificationsuggestion for the processed image, and executing the modificationsuggestion such that the processed image satisfies the display standard.10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response todetermining that the processed image satisfies the display standard,outputting the processed image to the at least one of the one or moredisplay devices for display.
 11. A system for displaying an image,comprising: one or more display devices; one or more storage devicescomprising a set of instructions; and one or more processors configuredto communicate with the one or more storage devices, wherein whenexecuting the set of instructions, the one or more processors aredirected to cause the system to: obtain an image to be displayed by atleast one of the one or more display devices, the image including afirst region; generate a processed image by performing an imageprocessing operation on the image, the processed image including asecond region; determine whether the processed image satisfies a displaystandard, wherein the display standard relates to a location status ofthe second region relative to a location of the first region; and inresponse to determining that the processed image does not satisfy thedisplay standard, generate a response.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein the image includes a graphic representation of an imagingobject, the graphic representation of the imaging object being withinthe first region.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the image includesa region of interest (ROI), and the processed image includes referenceinformation associated with the ROI, the reference informationassociated with the ROI being within the second region.
 14. The systemof claim 13, wherein the reference information associated with the ROIincludes at least one of statistical information of the ROI, commentinformation of the ROI, or a graphics representation of the ROI.
 15. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the image processing operation includes atleast one of rotating, zooming, cutting, or modifying at least a portionof the image.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein the display standardincludes that all of the second region locates within the first region.17. The system of claim 11, wherein the response includes outputting areminder, the reminder including changing a color of the second region.18. The system of claim 11, wherein the response includes automaticallyprocessing at least one of the first region or the second region suchthat the processed image satisfies the display standard.
 19. The systemof claim 11, wherein the response includes: providing a modificationsuggestion for the processed image, and executing the modificationsuggestion such that the processed image satisfies the display standard.20. A non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising at least oneset of instructions, wherein when executed by at least one processor ofa computing device, the at least one set of instructions cause the atleast one processor to effectuate a method comprising: obtaining animage to be displayed by at least one of one or more display devices,the image including a first region; generating a processed image byperforming an image processing operation on the image, the processedimage including a second region; determining whether the processed imagesatisfies a display standard, wherein the display standard relates to alocation status of the second region relative to a location of the firstregion; and in response to determining that the processed image does notsatisfy the display standard, generating a response.